# 2027 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2027. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

## Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. In addition several other countries in the world have a limit of 70 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Pietro Badoglio | Italy | 28 September 1871 | 1 November 1956 | General | La guerra d'Etiopia, L'Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale |
| Julien Benda | France | 26 December 1867 | 7 June 1956 | Writer | Bibliography |
| Émile Borel | France | 7 January 1871 | 3 February 1956 | Mathematician | Les probabilités denombrables et leurs applications arithmétiques |
| Bertold Brecht | Germany | 10 February 1898 | 14 August 1956 | Playwright | Mother Courage and Her Children |
| Ezio Camussi [it] | Italy | 16 January 1877 | 11 August 1956 | Composer | Compositions |
| Francisco de Aquino Correia | Brazil | 2 April 1885 | 22 March 1956 | Writer | |
| Alexander Gretchaninov | Russia | 25 October 1864 | 3 January 1956 | Composer | Selected works |
| Mohammed Hussein Heikal | Egypt | 20 August 1888 | 8 December 1956 | Novelist | Zeinab |
| Irène Joliot-Curie | France | 12 September 1897 | 17 March 1956 | Chemist | |
| Aino Kallas | Finland, Estonia | 2 August 1878 | 9 November 1956 | Writer | Sudenmorsian, The Pastor of Reigi, Barbara von Tisenhusen |
| Paul Léautaud | France | 18 January 1872 | 22 February 1956 | Writer | Works |
| Guido Leto | Italy | 5 November 1895 | 1956 | Politician | Publications |
| Évariste Lévi-Provençal | France | 4 January 1894 | 27 March 1956 | Orientalist | Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane |
| A. A. Milne | United Kingdom | 18 January 1882 | 31 January 1956 | Writer | Winnie-the-Pooh |
| Giovanni Papini | Italy | 9 January 1881 | 8 July 1956 | Writer | Publications |
| Alex Raymond | United States | 2 October 1909 | 6 September 1956 | Writer | Flash Gordon |
| Vida Ravenscroft Sutton | United States | 1878 | 27 July 1956 | Playwright | The Pilgrims' Holiday |
| Jackson Pollock | United States | 28 January 1912 | 11 August 1956 | Painter | |
| Jacques Sadoul | France | 22 May 1881 | 18 November 1956 | Politician | Works |
| Gustav Suits | Estonia | 30 November 1883 | 23 May 1956 | Poet | |
| Franz Tamayo | Bolivia | 28 February 1879 | 29 July 1956 | Writer, politician | |
| Michael Ventris | United Kingdom | 12 July 1922 | 6 September 1956 | Classics scholar, philologist | Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Introducing the Minoan Language |

## Countries with life + 60 years

In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Ralph Allen | Canada | 25 August 1913 | 2 December 1966 | Writer, journalist | Peace River Country |
| Lauro Ayestarán | Uruguay | 9 July 1913 | 22 July 1966 | Musicologist | La música en el Uruguay |
| André Breton | France | 19 February 1896 | 28 September 1966 | Writer, poet | Surrealist Manifesto |
| Jan Brzechwa | Poland | 15 August 1898 | 2 July 1966 | Poet | |
| Deems Taylor | United States | 22 December 1885 | 3 July 1966 | Composer, music critic | |
| Walt Disney | United States | 5 December 1901 | 15 December 1966 | Filmmaker | |
| C. S. Forester | United Kingdom | 27 August 1899 | 2 April 1966 | Writer | Horatio Hornblower, The African Queen, The General |
| Lloyd Garrett | United States | 2 July 1886 | 15 April 1966 | Tenor, composer | |
| Alberto Giacometti | Switzerland | 10 October 1901 | 11 January 1966 | Sculptor, painter | The Palace at 4 a.m., L'Homme au doigt, Grande tête mince, L'Homme qui marche I, Large Standing Woman I, Monumental Head |
| César Batlle Pacheco | Uruguay | 3 August 1885 | 6 January 1966 | Politician, Journalist | |
| Olhinto María Simoes | Uruguay | 5 June 1901 | 9 October 1966 | Poet, journalist | La sombra de los plátanos |
| Cordwainer Smith | United States | 11 July 1913 | 6 August 1966 | Science fiction writer, professor, military officer | Psychological Warfare, Norstrilia, Scanners Live in Vain, Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, A Planet Named Shayol |
| Evelyn Waugh | United Kingdom | 28 October 1903 | 10 April 1966 | Writer | Vile Bodies, A Handful of Dust |
| Mohamed Fawzi | Egypt | 15 August 1918 | 20 October 1966 | Singer, Musician | Kassaman |
| Mohamed El Qasabgi | Egypt | 1892 | 25 March 1966 | Musician | Raq El Habib |
| Badie' Khayri | Egypt | 17 August 1893 | 1 February 1966 | Playwright | Hassan wa Murqus wa Cohen |
| Sayyid Qutb | Egypt | 9 October 1906 | 29 August 1966 | Writer | Ma'alim fi al-Tariq, Fi Zilal al-Quran |

## Countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay, a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Zainul Abedin | Bangladesh | 29 December 1914 | 28 May 1976 | Painter | Famine Sketches |
| Delia Bennett | United States | 1892 | 1976 | Quilter | |
| Benjamin Britten | United Kingdom | 22 November 1913 | 4 December 1976 | Composer | List of compositions by Benjamin Britten |
| Agatha Christie | United Kingdom | 15 September 1890 | 12 January 1976 | Author | Agatha Christie bibliography |
| Stuart Cloete | South Africa | 23 July 1897 | 19 March 1976 | Author | Turning Wheels |
| Daniel F. Galouye | United States | 11 February 1920 | 7 September 1976 | SF Author | Dark Universe |
| Munro Leaf | United States | 4 December 1905 | 21 December 1976 | Author | The Story of Ferdinand |
| Valero Lecha [es] | El Salvador | 4 March 1894 | 20 August 1976 | Painter | Mercado al Aire Libre |
| André Malraux | France | 3 November 1901 | 23 November 1976 | Author | La Condition Humaine |
| Robert L. May | United States | 27 July 1905 | 11 August 1976 | Retailer | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer |
| Edgar Pangborn | United States | 25 February 1909 | 1 February 1976 | SF Author | A Mirror for Observers |
| Thomas Burnett Swann | United States | 12 October 1928 | 5 May 1976 | SF Author, poet | The Minotaur Trilogy |
| Guillermo Tolentino | Philippines | 24 July 1890 | 12 July 1976 | Sculptor | Bonifacio Monument, UP Oblation |
| Stephen Ullmann | Hungary | 31 July 1914 | 10 January 1976 | Linguist | The Principles of Semantics |
| Antoni Uniechowski | Poland | 23 February 1903 | 28 May 1976 | Illustrator | |
| Annie Ure | United Kingdom | 31 January 1893 | 13 July 1976 | Archeologist | Works |
| Francisco Urondo | Argentina | 10 January 1930 | 17 June 1976 | Author | Works |
| Peter Ury | United Kingdom Germany | 3 November 1920 | 20 September 1976 | Composer, playwright, journalist | Works |
| Alison Uttley | United Kingdom | 17 December 1884 | 7 May 1976 | Author | Works |
| Valentin Vaala | Finland | 13 October 1909 | 21 November 1976 | Director, screenwriter | Ihmiset suviyössä |
| Tamara Vakhvakhishvili | Soviet Union | 23 December 1893 | 31 October 1976 | Composer | Works |
| Diego Valeri | Italy | 25 January 1887 | 28 November 1976 | Poet, critic | |
| Mall Valk | Estonia | 2 June 1935 | 12 October 1976 | Ceramist | Works |
| Adam Vetulani | Poland | 20 March 1901 | 25 September 1976 | Historian | Works |
| Renata Viganò | Italy | 17 June 1900 | 23 April 1976 | Writer | L'Agnese va a morire |
| William G. Vinal | United States | 29 November 1881 | 9 July 1976 | Naturalist, educator | |
| Nikolai Virta | Soviet Union | 19 December 1906 | 3 January 1976 | Writer | Odinochestvo |
| Luchino Visconti | Italy | 2 November 1906 | 17 March 1976 | Director, screenwriter | The Leopard |
| Mark Vishniak | Russian Empire United States | 2 January 1883 | 31 August 1976 | Writer | Years of Emigration, 1919–1969 |
| André-Léon Vivrel | France | 8 October 1886 | 7 April 1976 | Painter, illustrator | |
| Kathe Volkart-Schlager | Austria | 7 February 1897 | 1976 | Composer | |
| Vladimir Vranić | Croatia | 10 November 1896 | 3 August 1976 | Mathematician | Vjerojatnost i statistika |
| Clara Coltman Vyvyan | Australia | 1885 | 1 March 1976 | Travel writer | On Timeless Shores: Journeys in Ireland |
| Ernest Wallcousins | United Kingdom | 21 July 1882 | January 1976 | Illustrator, painter | Illustrations for Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria |
| Martha Walter | United States | 19 March 1875 | January 1976 | Impressionist painter | Motherhood |
| Oliver Warner | United Kingdom | 28 February 1903 | 14 August 1976 | Naval historian, writer | Works |
| Ned Washington | United States | 15 August 1901 | 20 December 1976 | Lyricist | Lyrics to "When You Wish Upon a Star" |
| Mark Hanna Watkins | United States | 23 November 1903 | 24 February 1976 | Linguist, anthropologist | A Grammar of Chichewa |
| Paul Weatherwax | United States | 4 April 1888 | 18 October 1976 | Botanist, botanical illustrator | Works |
| David L. Webster | United States | 6 November 1888 | 17 December 1976 | Physicist | Works |
| Isabelle Clark Percy West | United States | 6 November 1882 | 25 August 1976 | Painter, printmaker, designer | |
| Judith Westphalen | Peru | 2 June 1922 | 31 December 1976 | Painter | |
| Harvey Samuel Whistler | United States | 7 September 1907 | 17 March 1976 | Violinist, composer | "Introducing the Positions for Violin" |
| Marjorie Whitaker | United Kingdom | 23 September 1895 | 7 January 1976 | Author | Works |
| Minor White | United States | 9 July 1908 | 24 June 1976 | Photographer | |
| Martin Wickramasinghe | Sri Lanka | 29 May 1890 | 23 July 1976 | Author | Gamperaliya |
| Dorothy Wilding | United Kingdom | 10 January 1893 | 9 February 1976 | Photographer | Portrait of Lady Angela Forbes |
| Clifton Williams | United States | 26 March 1923 | 12 February 1976 | Composer | Works |
| Clara McDonald Williamson | United States | 20 November 1875 | 17 February 1976 | Painter | Git 'Long Little Dogies |
| Cherry Wilson | United States | 12 July 1893 | November 1976 | Novelist | Thunder Breaks |
| Fritz Winter | Germany | 22 September 1905 | 1 October 1976 | Painter | Earthbound |
| Józef Wittlin | United States | 17 August 1896 | 28 February 1976 | Novelist, poet, translator | Salt of the Earth |
| Marcel Wolfers | Belgium | 1886 | 1976 | Sculptor, medallist | Monument aux morts de la guerre, Louvain |
| Wilfrid Wood | United Kingdom | 1 December 1888 | 18 February 1976 | Engraver, watercolourist | By Underground to Kew |
| James Woodford | United Kingdom | 25 September 1893 | 8 November 1976 | Sculptor | Robin hood statue outside Nottingham Castle |
| Ellamarie Woolley | United States | 1913 | 1976 | Enamel artist, muralist | Women with Birds |
| Marjorie Muir Worthington | United States | 1900 | 17 February 1976 | Writer | |
| Arthur Wragg | United Kingdom | 3 January 1903 | 17 August 1976 | Illustrator | Illustrations for The Psalms for Modern Life |
| Arthur F. Wright | United States | 3 December 1913 | 11 August 1976 | Historian | The Sui Dynasty |
| Horace Kenton Wright | Bahamas | 21 February 1915 | 14 November 1976 | Artist | |
| Margaret Wrightson | United Kingdom | 1877 | 1976 | Sculptor | Works |
| Satyu Yamaguti | Japan | 21 April 1894 | 11 March 1976 | Parasitologist | Synopsis of digenetic trematodes of vertebrates |
| Yashpal | India | 3 December 1903 | 26 December 1976 | Writer | Jhutha Sach |
| Yirawala | Aboriginal Australia | 1897 | 17 April 1976 | Artist | |
| Mihal Zallari | Albania | 25 September 1894 | 17 March 1976 | Historian, journalist, poet | |
| Joaquín Zamacois | Chile | 14 December 1894 | 8 September 1976 | Composer, author | |
| Anna Zinkeisen | Scotland | 29 August 1901 | 23 September 1976 | Artist | Portrait of Archibald McIndoe |
| Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī | Syria | 25 June 1893 | 25 November 1976 | Poet, biographer | al-Aʻlām |
| Adolph Zukor | United States | 7 January 1873 | 10 June 1976 | Filmmaker | |
| Jacek Żuławski | Poland | 29 March 1907 | 27 November 1976 | Sculptor | |
| Alberto Zum Felde | Uruguay | 30 May 1889 | 6 May 1976 | Historian, essayist | |

## Countries with life + 80 years

Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
| Giuseppe Adami | Italy | 4 February 1878 | 12 October 1946 | librettist | Libretti for three operas composed by Giacomo Puccini |
| Eriks Ādamsons | Latvia | 22 June 1907 | 28 February 1946 | writer, poet, translator | |
| Armando Augusto Freire (Armandinho) | Portugal | 11 October 1891 | 21 December 1946 | Fado guitarist and composer | |
| Louis Bachelier | France | 11 March 1870 | 28 April 1946 | Mathematician | |
| Herbert Baker | United Kingdom | 9 June 1862 | 4 February 1946 | Architect | |
| Helen Bannerman | United Kingdom | 25 February 1862 | 3 October 1946 | Writer | The Story of Little Black Sambo |
| Granville Bantock | United Kingdom | 7 August 1868 | 16 October 1946 | composer | |
| James Bernard | United Kingdom | 11 April 1874 | 5 March 1946 | Elocutionist | |
| Allan Cyril Brooks | Canada | 15 February 1869 | 3 January 1946 | Ornithologist, illustrator and artist | |
| Alfonso Broqua [es] | Uruguay | 15 February 1869 | 24 November 1946 | Composer | |
| Charles Despiau | France | 4 November 1874 | 30 October 1946 | Sculptor | |
| J. Michael Diack | United Kingdom | 26 June 1869 | 2 February 1946 | Composer, arranger | Arranged nursery rhymes in the style of Handel |
| Manuel de Falla | Spain | 23 November 1876 | 14 November 1946 | Composer | Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ritual Fire Dance |
| W. C. Fields | United States | 29 January 1880 | 25 December 1946 | Writer | |
| Jane Findlater | United Kingdom | 4 November 1866 | 20 May 1946 | Writer | |
| Dion Fortune | United Kingdom | 6 December 1890 | 6 January 1946 | Writer and occultist | The Demon Lover, The Winged Bull, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess |
| Wanda Gág | United States | 11 March 1893 | 27 June 1946 | Children's book author, artist, translator and illustrator | Millions of Cats |
| Gerhart Hauptmann | Germany | 15 November 1862 | 6 June 1946 | Writer, Nobel Prize laureate | The Weavers, Bahnwärter Thiel (De) |
| Patty Hill | United States | 27 March 1868 | 25 May 1946 | Songwriter | Happy Birthday to You (with sister Mildred J. Hill, who predeceased her) |
| Violet Jacob | United Kingdom | 1 September 1863 | 9 September 1946 | Writer and poet | |
| John Maynard Keynes | United Kingdom | 5 June 1883 | 21 April 1946 | Economist | A Treatise on Money |
| Hermann von Keyserling | Germany | 20 July 1880 | 26 April 1946 | Philosopher | |
| Otis Adelbert Kline | United States | 1 July 1891 | 24 October 1946 | Literary agent and science fiction writer | |
| Paul Langevin | France | 21 January 1872 | 19 December 1946 | Physicist | |
| Henri Le Fauconnier | France | 1881 | 1946 | Painter | |
| Józef Mehoffer | Poland | 19 March 1869 | 8 July 1946 | Painter and decorative artist | |
| Adolph de Meyer | France | 9 January 1868 | 6 January 1946 | Photographer | |
| László Moholy-Nagy | Hungary | 20 July 1895 | 24 November 1946 | Painter and photographer | Light-Space Modulator |
| Paul Nash | United Kingdom | 11 May 1889 | 11 July 1946 | Painter/photographer | |
| Mikhail Nesterov | Russia | 31 May 1862 | 18 October 1942 | Painter | |
| Feliks Nowowiejski | Poland | 7 February 1877 | 18 January 1946 | Composer | Rota (music) |
| Clemente Palma | Peru | 3 December 1872 | 13 August 1946 | Author | |
| Júlio Prestes | Brazil | 15 March 1882 | 9 February 1946 | Politician | |
| Damon Runyon | United States | 4 October 1880 | 10 December 1946 | Writer and newspaperman | |
| Abel Salazar (scientist) | Portugal | 19 July 1889 | 29 December 1946 | Scientist and Painter | |
| Alice Sauvrezis | France | 4 April 1866 | 12 April 1946 | Composer | |
| Ernest Thompson Seton | United Kingdom | 14 August 1860 | 23 October 1946 | Writer and wildlife artist | Wild Animals I Have Known |
| May Sinclair | United Kingdom | 24 August 1863 | 14 November 1946 | Writer | |
| Václav Špála | Czech Republic | 24 August 1885 | 13 May 1946 | Painter | |
| Léon Spilliaert | Belgium | 28 July 1881 | 23 November 1946 | Painter | |
| Gertrude Stein | United States | 3 February 1874 | 27 July 1946 | Writer | The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Three Lives |
| Karl Hans Strobl | Czech Republic | 18 January 1877 | 10 March 1946 | Author and editor | |
| Harry Von Tilzer | United States | 8 July 1872 | 10 January 1946 | Songwriter | Ziegfeld Follies |
| Frona Eunice Wait | United States | 19 August 1859 | 1946 | Author and newspaper writer | Wines and Vines of California |
| George Henry Weiss | United States | 1898 | 1946 | Writer of science fiction and poetry | The Night People |
| H. G. Wells | United Kingdom | 21 September 1866 | 13 August 1946 | Writer | The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man |
| Stewart Edward White | United States | 12 March 1873 | 18 September 1946 | Writer and spiritualist | |
| Cornel Simanjuntak | Indonesia | 1921 | 15 September 1946 | Songwriter | Maju Tak Gentar, Sorak-Sorak Bergembira, Bungaku, Indonesia Tetap Merdeka, Ku Pinta Lagi, Maju Indonesia |
| Alfred Rosenberg | Germany | 12 January 1893 | 16 October 1946 | Politician, writer | The Myth of the Twentieth Century |
| Paul Zech | Germany | 19 February 1881 | 7 September 1946 | Poet | Die lasterhaften Balladen und Lieder des François Villon |
| Heinrich Freiherr von Stackelberg | Germany | 31 October 1905 | 12 October 1946 | Economist | Marktform und Gleichgewicht |

## United States

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1931, films released in 1931, and other works published in 1931, will enter the public domain in 2027 if they were made for hire as defined in American copyright law. Sound recordings that were published in 1926 and unpublished works whose authors died in 1956 will also enter the public domain. The Disney animated short The Moose Hunt, featuring the first named appearance of Pluto, enters the public domain. Universal Pictures' Frankenstein and Dracula adaptations will be among the works to enter the public domain. In addition, the character Dick Tracy will enter the public domain.
Other significant films entering the public domain include Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, 1931 Best Picture Oscar-winner Cimarron, Gangster films Little Caesar and The Public Enemy, the Marx Brothers film Monkey Business, Laurel and Hardy's first feature film Pardon Us, Fritz Lang's serial killer drama M, Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored starring Marlene Dietrich, Michael Powell's directorial debut Two Crowded Hours, Otto Preminger's directorial debut The Great Love, F. W. Murnau's final film Tabu: A Story of the South Seas, the John Ford films Arrowsmith and The Brat, the Alfred Hitchcock films The Skin Game, Mary and Rich and Strange, G. W. Pabst's The Threepenny Opera, Mário Peixoto's Limite, Dave Fleischer's Bimbo's Initiation, the first Canadian sound film The Viking, the first Soviet sound film Road to Life, the first Japanese sound film The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, the first Bollywood-musical Alam Ara (now believed lost) and the first Chinese sound film Sing-Song Girl Red Peony.
Artworks entering the public domain include Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory, Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, Grant Wood's painting The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Thomas Hart Benton's painting America Today, Paul Landowski's sculpture Christ the Redeemer, Pablo Picasso's sculpture Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse), Man Ray's Électricité-photo series, August Sander's photograph Secretary at West German Radio, Cologne and M.C. Escher's early print Atrani, Coast of Amalfi.
Important literary works entering the public domain include Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves, Lynn Riggs' play Green Grows the Lilacs, Erich Maria Remarque's novel The Road Back, Winston Churchill's final volume of The World Crisis, Walter B. Gibson's pulp novel The Living Shadow introducing The Shadow, Georges Simenon's novel The Strange Case of Peter the Lett (containing the first introduction of inspector Inspector Jules Maigret) in its original French, Hergé's Tintin in the Congo in its original French black-and-white version, and Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar in its original French.
Among the better-known songs entering the public domain are "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "As Time Goes By" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me".